Dealing with copyright is one thing, the other is facing hatred for creating spoilers.
In Japan, dealing with these two is serious business. And this is what exactly happened when a man got arrested for spoiling the gameplay videos, and the ending of the Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace visual novel
The man received a two-year jail sentence and a five-year suspended sentence, and a fine of ¥1 million.
But what makes the matter unique, 52-year-old Shinobu Yoshida who was arrested back in May for breaking the copyright laws, told the authorities that, "I knew it was illegal as I was doing it."
During the trial at the Sendai District Court, he also explained his actions, saying that, "As part of my hobby, I wanted someone to see what I made."
The game in question, Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace, was released in the West in 2019. But in Japan, it dates back all the way to 2011.
And here, Yoshida, a YouTube, was found guilty of copyright infringement for posting gameplay videos of the game without the permission of the copyright holder.
The Content Overseas Distribution Agency (CODA), which pushed for the ruling, said in a website post that is concerned about the growing problem of "fast content" in Japan. Fast content is a style of video that summarizes the plot of games and anime, often in a matter of minutes. Some fast content videos even specialize in endings and spoilers, called "netabare."
Consumers of fast content are those who wish to know the plots and the story of something, without having to follow the entire series or seasons.
These types of channels are partly covered under Fair Use in America and are growing in popularity.
Although publishers in the West don’t generally care about spoilers, as long as the game or film is already out, the situation is very different in Japan.
CODA, the Japanese anti-piracy trade group, argued that fast content creators are unfairly profiting from the copyrighted works of others without their permission.
They also said that fast content can significantly damage the market for games and animes by spoiling the experience for fans and potential viewers.
Prosecutors claim that the defendant's actions are aimed at reducing people's desire to purchase products and trampling on the effort put into creating content. On the other hand, the defense requested a suspended sentence, arguing that the defendant's actions were not particularly egregious.
According to local publication, this is the first time such a conviction has occurred in Japan.
The ruling in the Steins;Gate case is a warning to Japanese content creators that they need to be careful about how they use copyrighted material.
But not just that, because it could also have implications for content creators living outside of Japan.
If Japanese copyright holders start to more aggressively enforce their rights, it could lead to more lawsuits against YouTubers and other content creators around the world.
It's worth noting though, that the complaint apparently stemmed from the fact that Yoshida monetized the videos, which violated a Japanese law that prohibits making money off copyrighted material.
CODA characterized the complaint as "malicious cases of posting videos containing content and endings (spoilers) without permission from the rights holders, [...] and unfairly gaining advertising revenue through copyright infringement."
While Yoshida’s arrest was largely driven by his streaming of Steins;Gate, but his YouTube channel also included protected works from the anime Spy × Family among others.
